Fed Likely To Pause Rate Cuts, But What's Next?

Earnings Reports - Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), and Tesla (TSLA) are scheduled to report earnings after the market closes today, with market expectations being closely monitored [6] - Companies reporting today also include AT&T (T) and IBM (IBM) [16] Federal Reserve Insights - The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is expected to maintain its benchmark rate at 3.50%-3.75% after three consecutive rate cuts, with the timing of any future cuts being a key focus [7] - Most FOMC members are not in a hurry to ease policy further, as the labor market shows signs of softening but is not raising urgent alarms, and inflation remains above the 2% target without signs of a dramatic resurgence [8] - There is a disconnect between the FOMC's projected rate path for 2026 and market expectations, with the FOMC indicating only a single rate cut in 2026, while markets anticipate two cuts this year [8] Corporate Developments - SoftBank (SFTBY) is considering an additional investment of $30 billion in OpenAI (OPENAI) [9] - SpaceX (SPACE) is targeting a mid-June IPO with a potential valuation of $1.5 trillion [9] - UnitedHealth (UNH) has indicated potential benefit cuts due to disappointing Medicare rates [10] - UPS (UPS) plans to cut 30,000 jobs as it ends its partnership with Amazon [11] - Amazon (AMZN) is set to close its Go and Fresh stores while expanding its Whole Foods operations [12] - Boeing (BA) aims for 500 deliveries of its 737 aircraft as its inventory nears exhaustion [13] - Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) will pay $40 million to settle SEC claims regarding performance inflation [14] - Tether, the issuer of the USDT-USD stablecoin, has emerged as a significant beneficiary of the recent gold rally [15]